Suspected terrorists may have sneaked into Andhra: Odisha police

Still in the dark over the whereabouts of four suspected terrorists who fled from a city hotel after being asked to produce identity proofs on Republic Day eve, Odisha Police has alerted its Andhra Pradesh counterpart suspecting they might have sneaked into the state.

"The CCTV footage indicates that the car used by the four suspected terrorists has crossed the check gate at Girisola bordering Andhra Pradesh. The vehicle bearing the same Delhi registration number crossed the check gate on the night of January 25, about seven hours after being sighted here," a senior police officer involved in the investigation said.
 Andhra Pradesh Police has been alerted, the officer said. The Special Task Force, which is probing the incident with the central intelligence wing, has also contacted the police in Delhi, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, he said.

Meanwhile, the city police has interrogated several persons, including one from Iran and another from Russia in connection with the case.

"Yes we have spoken to many people, but no information on the suspected four persons so far," deputy commissioner of police Satyabrat Bhoi said, adding cars bearing Delhi registration numbers are being tracked in different places.

Inspector General Arun Botha, who is heading the STF team, said steps are being taken to locate the four persons who fled from the city.

The state government had yesterday sounded high alert after the four men, presenting themselves as Iraqi nationals, disappeared when asked to produce their identity proof at a hotel here on Monday night.

The police have released CCTV grabs of the vehicle and one of the four suspected persons last evening and sought public help to nab them. Director General of Police B K Singh had yesterday said the four were suspected to be terrorists.

The four men had estimated height of 6.5 feet and spoke in Hindi and English. They came to the hotel in a car with a Delhi registration number which turned out to be fake, police said.

"In the wake of the incident, the security of the chief minister's carcade has been beefed up. We don't want to take any chances and have heightened security and frisking," police commissioner R P Sharma said.